A Lady Seen from Behind
Oil Painting
ca. 1700-ca. 1710 (painted)
ca. 1700-ca. 1710 (painted)
| Artist/Maker |
A woman wearing a white underdress with red detailing and a black overskirt and hooded mantle, seen from behind. This work is part of an album of fifty-three sketches by Carlevarijs which includes figures and objects he appears to have painted in the open air in preparation for insertion into formal compositions.
Luca Carlevarijs, (1663-1730) was an Italian painter, engraver and architect particularly known for his views of Venice. Although he was more than simply a view painter, much of his work was certainly in the genre later made popular by Canaletto and Francesco Guardi. In 1679 Carlevaris moved to Venice and is said to have made a trip to Rome in 1698. In 1703 he published Le fabriche e vedute di Venezia disegnate poste in prospettiva et intagliate da Luca Carlevaris which included 104 views of Venice. It was the most complete survey of the fabric of the city ever produced and served as a model for Venetian view painters throughout the 18th century.
This study of a woman seen from behind is one of Carlevarijs’ studies known as macchiette, the quick sketches he made with daubs of colour to indicate animated Venetian figures. Carlevarijs first drew the figures on paper, copying them from people he saw in the streets and then transformed them into lively oil sketches, such as this one, which represent a crucial part of his artistic process. Studies such as these would ultimately form part of a Venetian veduta or prospect painting, which is a genre Carlevarijs is generally credited with establishing in the eighteenth century. He populated his vedute with elegantly posed and well-dressed figures, concealing the decline of the Republic under the splendour of the pageants, festivals and regattas he often represented. While this precise figure remains to be identified in a finished painting, a woman in similar dress and slightly different pose appears in the centre middleground of The Piazza San Marco (Private Collection) suggesting that Carlevarijs made several studies of the same woman.
Luca Carlevarijs, (1663-1730) was an Italian painter, engraver and architect particularly known for his views of Venice. Although he was more than simply a view painter, much of his work was certainly in the genre later made popular by Canaletto and Francesco Guardi. In 1679 Carlevaris moved to Venice and is said to have made a trip to Rome in 1698. In 1703 he published Le fabriche e vedute di Venezia disegnate poste in prospettiva et intagliate da Luca Carlevaris which included 104 views of Venice. It was the most complete survey of the fabric of the city ever produced and served as a model for Venetian view painters throughout the 18th century.
This study of a woman seen from behind is one of Carlevarijs’ studies known as macchiette, the quick sketches he made with daubs of colour to indicate animated Venetian figures. Carlevarijs first drew the figures on paper, copying them from people he saw in the streets and then transformed them into lively oil sketches, such as this one, which represent a crucial part of his artistic process. Studies such as these would ultimately form part of a Venetian veduta or prospect painting, which is a genre Carlevarijs is generally credited with establishing in the eighteenth century. He populated his vedute with elegantly posed and well-dressed figures, concealing the decline of the Republic under the splendour of the pageants, festivals and regattas he often represented. While this precise figure remains to be identified in a finished painting, a woman in similar dress and slightly different pose appears in the centre middleground of The Piazza San Marco (Private Collection) suggesting that Carlevarijs made several studies of the same woman.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | A Lady Seen from Behind (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Oil on canvas |
| Brief description | Oil painting, 'A Lady Seen from Behind', Luca Carlevarijs, late 17th-early 18th century |
| Physical description | A woman wearing a white underdress with red detailing and a black overskirt and hooded mantle, seen from behind. This work is part of an album of fifty-three sketches by Carlevarijs which includes figures and objects he appears to have painted in the open air in preparation for insertion into formal compositions. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Gallery label | Studies of a Venetian Woman
About 1700–10
These sketches show a woman holding a fan and mask in a variety of poses. In some she gestures with her fan, possibly to communicate with her admirers or companions. Carlevarijs used rapidly painted oil sketches like this to develop the figures in his large-scale views of Venice. He depicted men and women of all classes and in a range of different activities.
Italy (Venice)
By Luca Carlevarijs
Oil on canvas
Purchased with funds from the Captain H.B. Murray Bequest
Museum nos. P.74, 76 to 78-1938(09/12/2015) |
| Credit line | Purchased from the funds of Captain H. B. Murray's bequest. |
| Object history | Purchased, 1938 Historical significance: Luca Carlevarijs, (1663-1730) was an Italian painter, engraver and architect particularly known for his views of Venice. Although he was more than simply a view painter, much of his work was certainly in the genre later made popular by Canaletto and Francesco Guardi. In 1679 Carlevaris moved to Venice and is said to have made a trip to Rome in 1698. In 1703 he published Le fabriche e vedute di Venezia disegnate poste in prospettiva et intagliate da Luca Carlevaris which included 104 views of Venice. It was the most complete survey of the fabric of the city ever produced and served as a model for Venetian view painters throughout the 18th century. This study of a woman seen from behind is one of Carlevarijs’ studies known as macchiette, the quick sketches he made with daubs of colour to indicate animated Venetian figures. Carlevarijs first drew the figures on paper, copying them from people he saw in the streets and then transformed them into lively oil sketches, such as this one, which represent a crucial part of his artistic process. Studies such as these would ultimately form part of a Venetian veduta or prospect painting, which is a genre Carlevarijs is generally credited with establishing in the eighteenth century. He populated his vedute with elegantly posed and well-dressed figures, concealing the decline of the Republic under the splendour of the pageants, festivals and regattas he often represented. While this precise figure remains to be identified in a finished painting, a woman in similar dress and slightly different pose appears in the centre middle ground of The Piazza San Marco (Private Collection, repr. Beddington, pl. 8) suggesting that Carlevarijs made several studies of the same woman. |
| Historical context | This work is part of an album of fifty-three sketches by Carlevarijs which includes figures he appears to have painted in the open air in preparation for insertion into formal compositions. The figures and objects appear frequently and virtually without variations in his paintings between 1707 and 1726 and are closely related to his etchings of 1703 in Le fabriche e vedute di Venetia. Composed of 104 views of Venice, the etchings formed the most complete survey of the fabric of the city ever produced and served as a model for Venetian view painters throughout the 18th century. Carlevarijs' sketches reveal a particular attention to costume, highlighting Venetian style of dress which was highly regarded in fashionable circles throughout Europe from the 16th through the 18th centuries. The maritime republic imported raw materials from the Far East and exported finished products including highly desirable velvets and brocades. The taste for Venetian textiles persisted into the 18th century. In this period however, Venice's power was dwindling and her government corrupt. The city nevertheless sought to present a facade of a wealthy city peopled with bright and gregarious multitude engaged in pleasurable pursuits. As Carlevarijs stated in the dedication to Le fabriche, he intended his paintings to 'rendere più facile alla notitzia de Paesi stranieri le Venete Magnificenze' [render more clearly the magnificence of Venice to foreign countries] |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | A woman wearing a white underdress with red detailing and a black overskirt and hooded mantle, seen from behind. This work is part of an album of fifty-three sketches by Carlevarijs which includes figures and objects he appears to have painted in the open air in preparation for insertion into formal compositions. Luca Carlevarijs, (1663-1730) was an Italian painter, engraver and architect particularly known for his views of Venice. Although he was more than simply a view painter, much of his work was certainly in the genre later made popular by Canaletto and Francesco Guardi. In 1679 Carlevaris moved to Venice and is said to have made a trip to Rome in 1698. In 1703 he published Le fabriche e vedute di Venezia disegnate poste in prospettiva et intagliate da Luca Carlevaris which included 104 views of Venice. It was the most complete survey of the fabric of the city ever produced and served as a model for Venetian view painters throughout the 18th century. This study of a woman seen from behind is one of Carlevarijs’ studies known as macchiette, the quick sketches he made with daubs of colour to indicate animated Venetian figures. Carlevarijs first drew the figures on paper, copying them from people he saw in the streets and then transformed them into lively oil sketches, such as this one, which represent a crucial part of his artistic process. Studies such as these would ultimately form part of a Venetian veduta or prospect painting, which is a genre Carlevarijs is generally credited with establishing in the eighteenth century. He populated his vedute with elegantly posed and well-dressed figures, concealing the decline of the Republic under the splendour of the pageants, festivals and regattas he often represented. While this precise figure remains to be identified in a finished painting, a woman in similar dress and slightly different pose appears in the centre middleground of The Piazza San Marco (Private Collection) suggesting that Carlevarijs made several studies of the same woman. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | P.77-1938 |
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| Record created | February 12, 2007 |
| Record URL |
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